Installing structure of lower part cap in receiverdrier

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a receiver-drier for separating liquid and gaseous refrigerant and removing moisture and impurities in the refrigerant, in which the lower cap is exactly assembled to the receiver-drier so as to air-tightly close a lower opening of the receiver-drier when the lower cap is screwed to the receiver-driver, thereby preventing a leakage and also facilely performing the assembling. 
     The structure includes a receiver-drier tank having an opening at a lower end thereof; a body which is inserted into the opening to be screwed to the receiver-drier tank; a filter which is disposed at an upper side of the body to have a flange portion for assisting in exactly assembling the body and filter; and a sealing member which is provided at a junction portion between the body and the filter so as to air-tightly close the receiver-drier tank.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a receiver-drier for separating liquid and gaseous refrigerant and removing moisture and impurities in the refrigerant, and more particularly, to a receiver-drier for separating liquid and gaseous refrigerant and removing moisture and impurities in the refrigerant, in which the lower cap is exactly assembled to the receiver-drier so as to air-tightly close a lower opening of the receiver-drier when the lower cap is screwed to the receiver-driver, thereby preventing a leakage and also facilely performing the assembling.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, as shown in FIG. 1, a receiver-drier is attached to one side of a header tank of a condenser 10, and constructed such that a moisture absorbent 24 for removing a gaseous working fluid is provided in the tank of which an upper side is closed and a lower side is opened and the lower side of the tank is closed using a lower cap 30 having a filter for removing impurities contained in the working fluid which is passed through the moisture absorbent 24.

A conventional lower cap for closing the receiver-drier is formed into a one piece-type in which a filter and a body are formed integrally. However, in the one piece-type lower cap, if one of the filter and body is damaged or out of order, the function of the whole part is lost and thus the whole lower cap has to be replaced.

And, in the case of a two piece-type lower cap in which the filter and the body are separated, the filter may be not positioned in place during an assembling process or after the assembling process, and then separated from the place. Therefore, it is impossible to perform its function.

Further, since the filter has a smaller diameter than a diameter of a screw thread formed on the body of the lower cap, when the lower cap is assembled to the receiver-drier, the filter which is positioned at an upper side of the body becomes inclined and thus assembled erroneously.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a receiver-drier for separating liquid and gaseous refrigerant and removing moisture and impurities in the refrigerant, in which a stopping portion is formed at an inner circumferential surface of a receiver-drier tank so as to prevent a filter of a two-piece type lower cap from being separated after an assembling process.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a receiver-drier for separating liquid and gaseous refrigerant and removing moisture and impurities in the refrigerant, in which the filter and body are coupled to have multiple sides and vertexes, thereby preventing relative rotation between components, which is generated by excessive rotational force upon an assembling process.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a receiver-drier for separating liquid and gaseous refrigerant and removing moisture and impurities in the refrigerant, in which an inclined portion and a guide surface are formed in the inner circumferential surface of the receiver-drier tank so that the two-piece type lower cap can be exactly assembled to the opening of the receiver-drier, and the filter of the lower cap is formed with a flange portion protruded to an outside so that the two-piece type lower cap can be exactly assembled along the inclined portion and the guide surface.

Hereinafter, the present invention is described in detail.

In order to achieve the object, there is provided a receiver-drier for separating liquid and gaseous refrigerant and removing moisture and impurities in the refrigerant includes a receiver-drier tank having an opening at a lower end thereof; a body which is inserted into the opening to be screwed to the receiver-drier tank; a filter which is disposed at an upper side of the body to have a flange portion for assisting in exactly assembling the body and filter; and a sealing member which is provided at a junction portion between the body and the filter so as to air-tightly close the receiver-drier tank.

Further, a guide surface is formed in the opening to have a predetermined length and the same diameter as the flange portion, so that the flange portion is contactedly supported by the guide surface to be slidly and exactly coupled in the opening.

Further, an inclined portion is formed at a lower end of the guide surface.

Further, a stopping portion is formed in the receiver-drier tank in order to exactly assemble the lower cap of the receiver-drier.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a general condenser in which a receiver-drier is formed integrally.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspecrtive view of a lower cap having a flange portion according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the lower cap, in which a part is cut away, according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the lower cap having the flange portion according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a status before the lower cap is installed in a receiver-drier tank according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a status after the lower cap is installed in the receiver-drier tank according to the present invention.

[Detailed Description of Main Elements] 10: condenser 20: receiver-drier 21: an upper cap 22: stopping portion 23: screw thread 24: moisture absorbent 25: guide surface 26: inclined portion 30: lower cap 31: filter 32: body 33: screw thread 34: sealing member 35: flange portion

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Practical and presently preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrative as shown in the following Examples and Comparative Examples.

However, it will be appreciated that those skilled in the art, on consideration of this disclosure, may make modifications and improvements within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a general condenser in which a receiver-drier is integrally formed, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspecrtive view of a lower cap having a flange portion according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the lower cap, in which a part is cut away, according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the the lower cap having the flange portion according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a status before the lower cap is installed in a receiver-drier tank according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a status after the lower cap is installed in the receiver-drier tank according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a receiver-drier 20 is a cylindrical tank of which an upper side is closed by an upper cap 21 and a middle side is formed with an inlet port and an outlet port through which refrigerant is exchanged from a condenser 10 and in which a moisture absorbent 24 is filled and a lower cap 30 is inserted into an opening formed a lower side thereof so as to air-tightly close the receiver-drier 20.

In the prior art, the lower cap 30 for air-tightly closing the opening formed at the lower side the receiver-drier 20 has a body 32 and filter 31 which are formed in one piece-type. However, the one piece-type lower cap 30 has a problem that, when one of the filter 31 and body 32 is damaged or out of order, the whole lower cap 30 has to be replaced. Therefore, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, the lower cap is formed into a two piece-type which is separated into a body 32 has a screw thread 33 formed on an outer surface thereof and a filter 31 which is positioned at an upper side of the body 32 to filter foreign substances mixed with the refrigerant.

The two piece-type lower cap 30 having the separated body 32 and filter 31, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, has a coupling surface in the form of a quadrangle or a hexagon having multiple sides and vertexes so as to prevent relative rotation between components, which is generated by excessive rotational force upon an assembling process. And an elastic ring-shaped sealing member 34 is disposed in a space defined by an inner circumferential surface of the opening and the coupling surface of the body 32 and filter 31.

And, as shown in FIG. 5, the lower cap 30 is screwed into the opening formed at the lower side of the receiver-drier 20.

At this time, in order to exactly assembling the lower cap 30 to the receiver-drier 20, as shown in FIG. 4, the filter 31 of the lower cap 30 is formed with a flange portion 35 which is protruded to the outside. Further, the opening formed at the lower side of the receiver-drier 20 is provided with a guide surface 25 which is formed on the inner circumferential surface thereof to have a predetermined length and the same diameter as the flange portion 35, as shown in FIG. 5, so that the flange portion 35 is contactedly supported by the guide surface 25 to be slidly and coupled therein when the lower cap 30 is screwed to the receiver-drier 20. An inclined portion 26 is formed at a lower end of the guide surface 25 so that the flange portion 35 can be smoothly inserted along the guide surface 25.

The flange portion 35 which is protruded from the filter 31 is assembled along the inclined surface 26 and the guide surface 25 formed on the inner circumferential surface of the receiver-drier 20.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a stopping portion 22 is formed in the receiver-drier so as to be closely contacted with an upper portion of the filter 31 when assembling the lower cap 30, thereby assisting the assembling process of the lower cap 30 and also preventing the separation of the lower cap 30 after the assembling process.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the present invention as described above, since the body and the filter of the lower cap is separated from each other, if one of the filter and body is damaged or out of order, only the corresponding part can be selectively replaced with new one, thereby facilitating the replace of the parts and thus reducing the repairing charges.

In addition, the supporting portion is formed at a predetermined place of the inner circumferential surface of the receiver-drier tank so that the filter of the lower cap is stopped by that when the lower cap is assembled, thereby preventing the separation of the lower cap 30 after the assembling process.

Further, the body and filter of the lower cap has a coupling surface having multiple sides and vertexes so as to prevent the relative rotation between components, which is generated by excessive rotational force upon an assembling process.

Furthermore, a flange portion is formed at the filter of the lower cap and a guide surface is formed on the inner circumferential surface thereof to have a predetermined length and the same diameter as the flange portion. Therefore, the flange portion is contactedly supported by the guide surface to be slidly and exactly coupled therein through an inclined portion formed at a lower end of the guide surface when the lower cap is screwed to the receiver-drier.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conceptions and specific embodiments disclosed in the foregoing description may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other embodiments for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that such equivalent embodiments do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. 

1. A receiver-drier for separating liquid and gaseous refrigerant and removing moisture and impurities in the refrigerant comprising: a receiver-drier tank having an opening at a lower end thereof; a body which is inserted into the opening to be screwed to the receiver-drier tank; a filter which is disposed at an upper side of the body to have a flange portion for assisting in exactly assembling the body and filter; and a sealing member which is provided at a junction portion between the body and the filter so as to air-tightly close the receiver-drier tank.
 2. The receiver-drier as set forth in claim 1, wherein a guide surface is formed in the opening to have a predetermined length and the same diameter as the flange portion, so that the flange portion is contactedly supported by the guide surface to be slidly and exactly coupled in the opening.
 3. The receiver-drier as set forth in claim 2, wherein an inclined portion is formed at a lower end of the guide surface.
 4. The receiver-drier as set forth in claim 1, wherein a stopping portion is formed in the receiver-drier tank in order to exactly assemble the lower cap of the receiver-drier. 